Vertical rolling mill



Dec. 13, 1949 J. w. SHEPERDS ON ETAL 2,491,286

VERTICAL ROLLING MILL Filed June 6, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 'I-HHZ HH nnINVENTORS JOHN w. SHEPERDSON JOSEPH M- 'MALLEY awn/11% ATTORNEY J. w.SHEPERDSON ETAL 2,491,286

VERTICAL ROLLING MILL Dec. 13, 1949 a Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 6, 1945INVE. N TOR-S JOHN w. SHEPERI': SON JOSEPH M. Q'MALLEY B @NEY ATTO Dec.13,1949 J. w. SHEPERDSON ETAL 2,

VERTICAL ROLLING MILL Filed June 6, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 JOHN. w.SHEPERD SON JOSEPH M. O'MALL-EY A'TT ORNEY H 5 mVENToRs Patented Dec.13, 1949 UNITED T 2,491,286

vitamin. ROLLifiG MILL John w. shepe'rds'on and Intern DMaHey,Worcester, .Marsi; assigiio'r s re Moi-gen Con struction Comp-any;Worcester; Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application Jane 6,1945, Serial 5974776 -1 Claim.

This invention relates'to mills for rolling metal bars, and moreparticularly to mills of the type having a pair of vertical rollswhichare driven by suitable power-actuated mechanism con nected to thelower ends of the rolls.

It is one object of the invention to provide a vertical rolling millwhich is so constructed as to facilitate the changing of the rolls.

t is 'a further object of the inventionto pro vide vertical rolling millhaving simple and e'f-' fective means for protecting the drivingmechanism from scale and water.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of partsset forth in the specification and covered by the claim appended hereto.

Referringto the drawings illustrating one embodiment of the inventionand in which like reference numerals indicate like parts;

Fig. l is a vertical section through a rolling mill; taken on the line ll of Fig. 2; N

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rolling mill;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line -3--3 of Fig.1; 7 v p r Fig. 4 isa section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. l, with a certain shield removedfor clearness of illustration; and

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the rolling mill showing the roll housingbeing removed therefrom.

The embodiment illustrated comprises a roll housing H] having upper andlower windows H in which are slidably mounted the roll neck bearings l2of two vertical rolls I l. The housing It! is releasably secured to abase in known manner by means of slotted studs H, caps l8 and wedges 19.The base [5 is carried by a foundation shaped to provide a pit 22 withinwhich is located a pinion housing 23 enclosing two roll pinions 25.These pinions are connected by couplings 26 to upright spindles 27 whichin turn are connected by couplings 29 to the lower ends of the rolls.These couplings 26 and 29, and the parts which they connect, are formedwith loosely interfitting multiple splines to permit telescopic assemblyand to transmit a driving torque despite misalignment resulting fromroll adjustment. The spindles 21 and the associated couplings may bedescribed as coupling spindles.

Means is provided to support the roll neck 2 I manual-1y adjustablehorizontal screws 30 mounted in the housing It and provided withsuitable locknuts 3-]. The bearings l2 for the other roll M are engaged.by two horizohta'l screws 33n-iounted in the housing ill and arranged tobe rotated by a suitable power actuated mechanism 34. This mechanismcomprises apa-ir of worm gears 35 rotatably mounted one above the otherin a casing 31, with their axes in horizontal alignmentv'vitll thescrews 33. Both of these gears mesh with a horizontal worm 33 locatedbetween thefii and airaii-ged to be driven by an electric motor 39 (Fig.2). Horizontal shafts 4| 'eiit'end ext-any through the gears Glandsuitable clutches 42 "are provided to connect these shafts with thecorresponding gears. The ends of the shafts 41 adjacentthe screws -33are relasably connected th etc by any suitable means; such as theslidable sleeves '34. These sleeves, as well as the adjacent portionsofthe shafts and screws, may be of square or otherwise non circu-lar crosssecuon. Pins 45 may be used to secure the sleeves to the ends of thescrews. Upon withdrawal of these pins, the sleeves may bereavedalong'the'shafts' M to disconnectthese shat-ts from the screws 33,'

as shown in Fig. 5. This will make it possible to lift the housing Inwithout disturbing the power actuated mechanism 34.

It is important to retain the spindles 21 and the couplings 29 in theirproper positions by supporting them laterally when the rolls M arewithdrawn from the couplings by lifting the housing It]. For thispurpose suitable retaining devices 47 are adjustably mounted on the baseI5 for engagement with the couplings. As best shown in Fig. 4, theseretainers 41 are forked to straddle the couplings 29, there being twooppositely disposed retainers for each coupling. The retainers 41 arepivotally and slidably mounted on two parallel horizontal rods 48located at opposite sides of the couplings and carried by brackets 49secured to the base i5. These parts are so constructed and arranged thatthe retainers 41 may be swung upwardly and outwardly to the positionsindicated by the broken lines in Figs. 3 and 4, so that they will notinterfere with the couplings when the mill is in operation.

Means is provided to prevent water and scale from entering the pit 22.For this purpose the base [5 is shaped to provide a trough having abottom wall 5| which preferably slopes to one side in order that watermay be discharged therefrom to a suitable drain (not shown). This wall5| is provided with a laterally elongated opening ,52 through which thespindles 21 extend, this opening being of sufficient size to permitremoval of the spindles 21 and the lower couplings 26 upwardlytherethrough. The opening 52 is surrounded by an upstanding flange 53. Arib or baflie 54 is provided on the upper surface of the wall and spacedupstream from the opening 52, this rib being of arcuate shape in plan(as shown in Fig. 4) with its concave side toward the opening, in orderto deflect the water stream laterally toward opposite sides of theopening and prevent direct impingement of water on the flange 53. Theopening 52 is covered by a plate or shield 56 having a dependingmarginal flange 51 which overhangs the outer surfaces of the flange 53and rib 54. This plate 56 has two circular holes 58 therein throughwhich the spindles 21 extend. Each hole 58 is surrounded by anupstanding flange 60 which is surrounded by a depending flange or skirt6| formed on the coupling 29 thereabove. This provides a very effectiveseal to prevent water and scale from reaching the holes 58.

The operation of the invention will now be apparent from the abovedisclosure. The rolls 14 will be driven from a suitable source of powerthrough the pinions 25, couplings 26, spindles 21, and couplings 29, theretainers 4'! resting in their outer positions as indicated by thebroken lines in Fig. 4. The roll adjusting screws 33 may be actuated bythe motor 39 through the worm 38, gears 35, clutches 42, shafts 4| andsleeves 44. To adjust one of the screws 33 independently of the other,it is merely necessary to disengage one of the clutches 42. Any waterfrom the rolling operation will fall into the trough 5| and flowlaterally to a drain, the plate 56 and the associated overlapping flangeconstruction preventing the water from reaching the opening 52. When itbecomes necessary to change rolls, the operator will swing the forkedretainers 41 inwardly to engage the upper couplings 29, as shown in Fig.4, first moving the retainers along the rods 48 if necessary. The pins45 will be withdrawn from the screws 33, and the sleeves 44 moved alongthe shafts 4| out of engagement with these screws.

The wedges I9 and caps I 8 will then be removed from the studs [1,whereupon the housing ID and rolls [4 may be lifted from the base l5 bymeans of a suitable crane sling 63, as shown in Fig. 5. Another housing,with a different set of rolls, may then be lowered into place. Duringthis changing of housings, the retainers 41 will hold the spindlecouplings 29 and the spindles 21 in their proper positions. The poweractuated roll adjusting mechanism 34 does not need to be disturbed atall. The roll change can therefore be completed very rapidly, and themill need be shut down only for a comparatively short time.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

A rolling mill comprising a, supporting base, a roll housing mounted onthe base and releasably secured thereto, a pair of vertical rollsmounted in the housing, a pair of roll pinions beneath the base, uprightcoupling spindles connecting the pinions with the rolls thereabove todrive the same, fork-shaped retaining devices located at opposite sidesof the coupling spindles, and means secured to the base to support thesaid devices for pivotal movement about parallel horizontal axes atopposite sides of the coupling spindles, the said devices being arrangedto be swung inwardly about their axes to positions in which theystraddle the upper portions of the coupling spindles to support the samelaterally when the housing and rolls are lifted from the base.

JOHN W. SHEPERDSON. JOSEPH M. OMALLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,490,439 Swarthout Apr. 15, 19241,543,649 Bode June 23, 1925 2,083,100 Sheperdson et al. June 8, 19372,236,464 Burns Mar. 25, 1941

